Intellectual property protection is becoming an increasingly hot topic as people become more and more reliant on their ability to trade what they are able to conceive in their minds. Our world relies on technology so much that there dozens of memes all over the internet forecasting in a humorous manner what would happen if the internet were to suddenly crash or cease to exist. One thing that is for sure with regards to how the younger generations would feel is that they would probably wonder how people survived without it. While this might be funny and warrant a few laughs, it also highlights the importance of intellectual property protection.

Generation Y is accustomed to sharing information across thousands of kilometres in a matter of seconds. While this is fantastic in terms of rallying people to create change and rid the world of social injustices it also means that piracy is a lot more common. It has never been easier to take an innovation and turn it into your own and something you can make money from – even if you are not able to take full credit for the idea. This is why intellectual property law has become so important recently. It is the one way that you can ensure that you receive what is rightly yours. If you have come up with something that is destined to change the world or spent years building up your business’s reputation, you are entitled to protect the design or logo which is exactly what intellectual property law does.

Intellectual Property Protection in Argentina

With the recent global economic downturn and the saturation of traditional markets, people have to become a lot more innovative and enterprising when it comes to finding new markets for their business. As a result, Latin America has become incredibly popular. The market is largely untapped and with events like the FIFA World Cup and various sustainability summits, more and more people are going to Latin America. While the first country that most people think of in Latin America is Brazil (it is where some of the best football players come from after all), another incredibly popular country to invest in is Argentina.

If you are thinking of expanding your business to Argentina it helps to know who you should be in touch with regards to protecting your intellectual property before you arrive with your business plan ready to take over the country. Your go to institute in Argentina when it comes to intellectual property protection is the INPI. Before you start panicking, keep reading and before you know it you will be on your way to investing in this magnificent country.

The INPI

The INPI website is entirely in Spanish so you are advised to keep reading if you do not speak Spanish. The INPI in Argentina acts as a portal where you can look for patents and trademarks and the like. You can also look for administration records and there is a comprehensive list of intellectual property brokers or agents in Argentina. If you do need to do a search, try using Google Translate so that you can make the most of the website.

Submitting Documents on the INPI Website

You can submit documents for review on the INPI website, but you will have to register first. If however, you just want to search through the various documents, there is no need to register.

Services Available

A number of services are available through the main INPI portal and some of them are listed below:

·You can search for patents and utility models by record holder, record number, date range or even type of resolution. This will make your life a lot easier if you are just trying to find out whether or not what you would like to do is already patented in Argentina.

·You can search for brands in much the same way. An added feature is that you can look for renewals and access the OHIM search tool.

·Industrial designs can be looked for by the date the deposit was made, international standards or nature as well as by the recorded number. You can also look for images and go through an index of international classes for designs.

·Technology transfer records can be searched for by using the request number or year.

The best feature is probably the user guide which can be downloaded as a PDF. Unfortunately, it is only in Spanish so you will have to utilize Google Translate once again if you plan on using the guide.

Uutech has offices in the UK and Latin America. We provide international protection for emerging markets in Latin America.